In Vienna we stayed at the newly-opened Wombat's Hostel at Naschmarkt. We couldn't have asked for a better location. Right across the street was the Naschmarkt - an open air market with fresh food, to-go food and restaurants. We pretty much started an ended each day with pitas, curry and chili hummus and olives. Although that's not very Austrian, it was incredible. And we also had Austrian food too:
On our first afternoon we walked through the center up Kartner Strasse to Stephansplatz and Stephansdom Cathedral, and MuseumsQuartier than found our way over to our first Easter Market of the trip off of the Graben. We came to love these markets in Vienna and Prague for their cheap sausages, beers, and delicious sweets!
On Tuesday morning, we headed straight to the Schloss Schönbrunn, the Habsburgs' summer palace just outside Vienna. Being on a budget, we decided not to pay to enter and instead roamed around the gardens and the Easter Market. We climbed up the hill behind the palace to get some great views of the city.
Next, we headed back to the center and climbed up the South Tower of Stephansdom for some more great views of the city. The climb was rather uncomfortable, but I felt that the views were worth it.
To finish off the day we went to Haus der Musik - an interactive music museum. This was a really cool place and unlike other museums I've seen. There was of course a good deal of history about some of the famous Austrian composers, but it was presented in an interesting way. The majority of the museum was interactive exhibits about how music is made and how the brain processes it, etc. It's half price on Tuesday nights, so I would definitely recommend it!
Our last sight Wednesday morning before leaving for Prague was Prater Island, an "island" in between the Danube and Danube canals that has lots of parks and trails as well as the world's oldest amusement park. At the amusement park we all went on one ride together. It is like regular fair or amusement park swings but they are around a pole that raises you up a few hundred meters in the air for a great view of Vienna.
All in all, I really enjoyed Vienna. It was so different from Budapest. It reminded me a lot of my trip to Salzburg in high school, which I also really enjoyed. Vienna seems like a really cool city to spend a lot of time in, because it has a lot of history and culture, but also a lot of young people and a big nightlife scene. It was also probably home to the best food of the trip! (Not that any of the other food was bad, but the Naschmarkt really was incredible!)
Next up, my favorite city of the trip (and right up there with Paris as my favorite cities I've seen all semester) is PRAGUE!!
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